Paul Hinson

Hinson played in minor league baseball from 1927 to 1930, and again in 1933.[1] In five minor league seasons, he appeared in at least 340 games, with over 140 appearances at both shortstop and third base.[1] Hinson led the Western Association in stolen bases in 1927, with 48 steals in 120 games; he had a .315 batting average that season and had a .922 fielding percentage at third base.[2] He batted .306 in 1929 and .307 in 1930; records for some of his other seasons are incomplete.[1]

Hinson appeared in three major league games for the Boston Red Sox in 1928, each time as a pinch runner.[3] He scored one run, and did not get a plate appearance or play defensively.[3] Hinson's first and most successful pinch running appearance came on April 19 against the New York Yankees, in the first game of a home doubleheader at Fenway Park.[4] With the Yankees leading, 6–3, Johnnie Heving led off the bottom of the eighth inning as a pinch hitter for the pitcher; he singled, and Hinson entered the game to run for him.[5][6] Ira Flagstead doubled, advancing Hinson to third base, followed by a ground out by Phil Todt, scoring Hinson.[5] The Red Sox scored three more runs to take the lead, 7–6.[5] In the top of the ninth inning, pitcher Red Ruffing entered the game in place of Hinson, and held the Yankees scoreless to earn a save.[5] Hinson pinch ran in two other games, on May 7 and May 30, but did not score either time.[4] At the beginning of June, the Red Sox optioned Hinson to the Salem Witches of the New England League;[7] he successfully stole home in his first game with Salem.[8]

As well as Hinson and sprinter Herb Washington, several other players have made a majority of their major league appearances a pinch runner, notably Mel Kerr for the 1925 Chicago Cubs and Gary Hargis for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. Other teams have occasionally kept pinch-running specialists for brief stretches, such as Matt Alexander, Allan Lewis, Don Hopkins and Larry Lintz.

Hinson was born in 1904 in Vanleer, Tennessee.[3] During and after his baseball career, he served as a police officer in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he was shot in the hip in November 1930 while attempting to capture a burglary suspect.[9][10] Hinson ultimately became the chief of police, before leaving the force in 1957.[10] He died by suicide in Muskogee at the age of 56 in 1960.[10] He was married, with no children.[10][11]

• Nowlin, Bill. "Paul Hinson". SABR. Retrieved August 9, 2020.

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Paul Hinson at Find a Grave